Freight car end construction

ABSTRACT

In a railroad freight car, an end lining on which corrugated sheet is mounted, the end lining comprising a plurality of upright transversely elongated tubular members filled with pulverant materials such as sand or the like, and wherein the adjustable closure member on each lateral side of the end lining being laterally adjustable for attachment to the corner posts of the car, such closure member also being filled with said pulverant material.

United States Patent 1 Snyder et al.

[ 51 Feb. 12,1974

[ FREIGHT CAR END CONSTRUCTION [75] Inventors: Richard C. Snyder,Michigan City; Donald C. Bodinger, Portage, both of Ind.

[73] Assignee: Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, 111.

[22] Filed: Jan. 3, 1972 [21] App1.No.: 214,992

[52] US. Cl. 105/423, 105/409 51 Int. Cl 861d 17/18 58 Field ofSearch... 105/406, 410, 355, 374, 405, 105/409, 423

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 593,674 11/1897 Mather105/423 918,965 4/1909 Clark 105/423 1,126,243 l/19l5 McQuown 105/4231,837,786 12/1931 Mather 105/423 1,737,527 11/1929 Thompson 105/4102,130,812 9/1938 Nystrom 105/409 2,791,463 5/1957 Levitt 105/4233,185,112 5/1965 Johnston 105/423 Primary ExaminerGerald M. ForlenzaAssistant Examiner-Richard A. Bertsch Attorney, Agent, or Firm-RichardJ. Myers [5 7 ABSTRACT In a railroad freight car, an end lining on whichcorrugated sheet is mounted, the end lining comprising a plurality ofupright transversely elongated tubular members filled with pulverantmaterials such as sand or the like, and wherein the adjustable closuremember on each lateral side of the end lining being laterally adjustablefor attachment to the corner posts of the car, such closure member alsobeing filled with said pulverant material.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED FEB I 21974 sum 2 or 2 FREIGHT CAREND CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the InventionWith reference now to FIGS. 3-5, there is shown an upright closuremember or reinforcement tie means 16 in each corner of the car and thisclosure member connects with the corner post and corrugated sheeting 9The field of art to which this invention pertains is the and end lining17 thereat. The closure member 16 comend wall construction of railroadfreight cars and particularly to the type of end wall construction thatis built to withsatnd impact from moving lading within the freight car.

2. Description of the Prior Art It has heretofore been known to providefor reinforcement of the end wall of the car. However, in most cases itwas a combination of solid strengthening elements which were costly andheavy and although they did hold up to impact loading from the ladingthey did not absorb the energy of the impact so that the car wouldremain strong at the ends and not become fatigued. It is with thisthought in mind that the invention seeks and does solve the problem ofenergy absorption of impact of lading on the end wall by the uniqueconstruction described below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides for an end wallconstruction which will absorb the energy of lading impact and, inparticular, there is provided a combination of outer corrugated sheetingmounted on upright tubular sections which is filled with pulverantmaterial or sand that gives on impact so that not only is the noisevibration of impact reduced but the energy of impact is absorbed intothe particles which give or spread out and, therefore, cushion andreduce the otherwise deleterious effect the load would have on the endwall construction. Further, the lateral end portions of the end wall areprovided with an adjustable closure member connecting with the cornerpost, the closure member also being filled with this energy absorbingpulverant material.

These and other objects will become more readily apparent with referenceto the following description, appended claims and attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view of arailroad freight car;

FIG. 2 is a section taken along line'22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of one lateral end of that shown inFIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference now to thedrawings and in particular with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, there isshown a railroad freight car I having sides 2 and ends 3 and a roof 4. Aside sill reinforcement, numerals 5 and 6, respectively, depend fromeach side of the car and the car is supported on trucks 7. Each end 3 ofthe car I is provided with an end bulkhead 8 which is comprised ofcorrugated sheeting 9 and end lining 17 (see FIGS. 2-5). The upper partof the car is provided with side plates 10 which depend from the roof 4.At each comer of the car is located a corner post 11. Hand grabs 12 arecarried on each corner post 11 and a vertical upright member 1 1aadjacent each corner post. The sides are provided with side sheeting 13.

prises an end upright reinforcement corner tie plate or corner part 14which has a lateral end part 14a connecting with the outer end sidesheet attachment portion lle of the corner post 11 and has an elongatedend portion 14b and then a bent section 14c which connects with thetransversely extending other lateral end portion 14d which fits in andalongside of transverse elongated part of end angle plate or connectingpart 15, which also has longitudinal portion 15b connecting with uprightwall 9b of the corrugated sheeting 9. The corner post 11 includes theinner end side sheet attachment portion 11a attached to the side sheet13, the inner lateral portion 11b, the lateral outer longitudinalportion 11c, the outer lateral portion 11d, and the outer end side sheetattachment portion lle which forms the hat-shaped section side post,plus, the side post has the end lining attachment portion 11f. Thesheeting 13 extends to and also connects with the outer end side sheetattachment portion lle. The end lining attachment portion 11f isattached to the vertical portion 9b of the corrugated sheeting by boltmeans 11g. The corrugated sheeting is actually an undulated sheetingcomprising alternating valleys and hills and has first diagonal portion9a, first inner or trough vertical portion 9b, second diagonal portion9c and second outer vertical portion-or crest portion 9d. (See FIG. 5).The trough vertical portion 9b is provided with an ape'r ture 9e inwhich is inserted welding W1 for attachment of the corrugated lining 9to the end lining 17. As best seen in FIG. 4, the lining 9 is providedat its outer sides with flange portion 9f which attaches to portion lieof the hat-shaped post 11. The end lining is a plurality of hollowtubular end lining sections 18, each section being filled with pulverantmaterial 19 such as sand or like material. In assembly the part 15a ofthe end angle plate 15 guides the end 14d of the end uprightreinforcement corner tie plate 14 and when the distance between the sidewalls or side sheets is determined, a weld W2 is laid down between theportions 15a and 14d, as shown in FIG. 4, and then the resultingenclosure between parts 11f, lle, 9b, 14b, 14c, 14d, 15a and 15b isfilled with sand 19.

Thus, what is provided is a novel interlocking of corner post, sidesheeting, corner closure member and tubular end lining sections coupledto the end corrugated lining where the corner posts 11 are locatedgenerally at the sides of the car, the pulverant material or sand in theclosure member and in the tubular end sections of the inner end liningmaking a solid section for protection of lading and acting as ananti-dent construction and resulting in an energy absorbing continuumstructure. The tubes 18 and the closure 16 are filled with sand but notcompletely their vertical extents so as to allow the sand to becompressed, flow and give, in absorbing the energy of lading impact dueto shifting of the lading longitudinally of the car and against the endwalls.

The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate theinvention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar asthe appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who havethe disclosure before them will be able to make modifications andvariations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railroad freight car,

an end lining on which corrugated sheet is mounted,

the end lining comprising a plurality of upright transversely elongatedtubular members filled with pulverant materials, and

an adjustable closure member on each lateral side of the end lining,said closure member being laterally adjustable for attachment to thecorner posts of the car,

such closure member also being filled with said pulverant material.

2. In a railroad freight car construction,

an end wall,

a side wall,

a corner post attaching with said side wall and with said end wall,

said end wall including an outer corrugated end sheeting and an innerend lining,

said inner end lining comprising a plurality of transversely elongatedhollow tubular sections extending in lateral end-to-end relation withone another and against the corrugated sheeting,

said lining being filled with pulverant material such as sand or thelike acting as an energy absorber of the energy of lading impact.

3. The invention according to claim 2, and

a closure member on each lateral side of the inner end lining,

said closure member having a connecting part connecting with the mostlaterally outward tubular section and having a corner part adjustablyconnecting with the connecting part and with said corner post to providefor a hollow space therein, and means fixing the connecting part to thecorner part,

the hollow space being filled with pulverant material.

4. The invention according to claim 3, and

means fixing being a weld for attaching said connecting part to saidcomer part for filling said hollow space with pulverant material.

5. The invention according to claim 3, and

said connecting part being L-shaped and connecting also with said outercorrugated end sheeting.

6. The invention according to claim 3, and

said corner part being generally laterally elongated and having anoffset portion connecting with said connecting part thereby providing aflush back wall with the connecting part and the tubular sections.

7. The invention according to claim 3, and

said corner post being hat section in shape and having an end lateralleg portion partially defining the hollow space formed with theconnecting and corner parts of the closure member and the corrugated endsheeting.

1. In a railroad freight car, an end lining on which corrugated sheet ismounted, the end lining comprising a plurality of upright transverselyelongated tubular members filled with pulverant materials, and anadjustable closure member on each lateral side of the end lining, saidclosure member being laterally adjustable for attachment to the cornerposts of the car, such closure member also being filled with saidpulverant material.
 2. In a railroad freight car construction, an endwall, a side wall, a corner post attaching with said side wall and withsaid end wall, said end wall including an outer corrugated end sheetingand an inner end lining, said inner end lining comprising a plurality oftransversely elongated hollow tubular sections extending in lateralend-to-end relation with one another and against the corrugatedsheeting, said lining being filled with pulverant material such as sandor the like acting as an energy absorber of the energy of lading impact.3. The invention according to claim 2, and a closure member on eachlateral side of the inner end lining, said closure member having aconnecting part connecting with the most laterally outward tubularsection and having a corner part adjustably connecting with theconnecting part and with said corner post to provide for a hollow spacetherein, and means fixing the connecting part to the corner part, thehollow space being filled with pulverant material.
 4. The inventionaccording to claim 3, and means fixing being a weld for attaching saidconnecting part to said corner part for filling said hollow space withpulverant material.
 5. The invention according to claim 3, and saidconnecting part being L-shaped and connecting also with said outercorrugated end sheeting.
 6. The invention according to claim 3, and saidcorner part being generally laterally elongated and having an offsetportion connecting with said connecting part thereby providing a flushback wall with the connecting part and the tubular sections.
 7. Theinvention according to claim 3, and said corner post being hat sectionin shape and having an end lateral leg portion partially defining thehollow space formed with the connecting and corner parts of the closuremember and the corrugated end sheeting.